Apart

Chapter 2

ADRIEN GRAYER

OCTOBER 24, 2247

I couldn't believe it. My best friend, the love of my live, the water to my fire, the moon to my sun, the yin to my yang, was gone...

Forever.

We had been best friends for so long already. I couldn't imagine a life without her, yet there she was, a whole other nation away, and states across me. The memory from when we first met still burned in my mind clearly.

I was almost five at the time. Our parents were talking near the park benches and I was on a tree, waiting for my best friend, Aris Rivers to arrive. I knew Aris since we were young. We played in the Playground every Friday, and we were the best of friends. I knew he had a sister, but I didn't know who she was, until that day. Aris came up to me, his tousled dark hair a messy mop on the top of his head. As I watched him approach, I realized that he wasn't alone. Aris was holding somebody's hand, and behind there was another kid around our age. I couldn't see the face however, as the kid was hiding behind my best friend's back. I crawled down the tree, jumping as I landed, greeting Aris.

"Hiya Aris, who's the kid behind you?" I asked curiously. Aris was younger than me by slightly less than half a year.

"Ian, this is Aileen, my twin sister," Aris says, glancing at the figure hidden behind him.

"Come on, Lena. He doesn't bite. He's my best friend. Right, Ian?" Aris says.

I nodded, even more curious about his twin sister that he had been talking to me for a while now.

Slowly, a girl slightly shorter than me shuffled out, standing beside Aris. She had the same colored hair as her brother, her hair soft and wavy, ending on the middle of the back. She hid her head behind her cascading waterfall of hair, and at that moment, I had the sudden urge to touch the hair and feel how soft it was. Luckily, I didn't.

"Hey Aileen, I'm Adrien Grayer, Aris's best friend, and your soon to be best friend too!" I said cheerfully, not wanting to scare her away.

Aileen slowly tilted her head upward, her hair sliding back. And oh my, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

She had the most beautiful, mesmerizing gray eyes, rosy cheeks, a smatter freckles across her nose, long, dark lashes, and a cute turned nose. Her lips were soft and rosy, her hair framing her heart shaped face. I was stunned. This girl was beautiful. Aileen's gray eyes held a mysterious look to it, and her eyes twinkled with kindness and enthusiasm. I must have been staring too long, because suddenly, her soft voice broke my thoughts, and I watched her bashfully say,

"Hi! I am Aileen Rivers, Aris's sister." Then she raised her little hand at me as a waving gesture, and I swore, from the moment I had laid my eyes on her, that I would protect her no matter what.

Now, here I am. Lost and confused without either of the twins, six feet, under, with no idea as to what I was going to do next. I lost them. I lost them. I lost...

Her.

And now, she was all alone in an entire new nation, with no one to protect her, except for her brother. If only I was there. I could have helped. And now, I was here, left behind, with a kiss lingering on my lips, most likely the last kiss that I would ever get, in my entire lifetime.

I wasn't sad. No, not at all. I was...

Devastated.

Now, with no real friends, no love of my life, I could only hope. Hope that both Aileen and 'Aris was safe in the Legion, in New California, to hope that they would read my letter on their birthdays, to hope that they still think about me.

When I finally went back to my house after sitting on "our" rock for a very long time, looking at the ocean, Mom, who was cooking at that time, asked me if there was anything wrong.

I wanted to say that my world was ending, that the people I cared about would never see me again. However, not wanting to worry my mom, Instead, I find myself snapping an "I'm fine, Mom!" And I instantly regretted doing so.

I was just tired. Just tired, I thought to myself. I went upstairs to my room, and cried for a very, very long time.